Chapter 438: Elemental Iron

Lin Li was right. Such careless thrusting would definitely lead to trouble…

Just when Stephen was putting all his attention on turning the iron wire in his hands, there was suddenly an eccentric magical wave that radiated from the metal box. The magical wave was as unusual as one could possibly imagine it to be. There were no signs to tell the source of the magical wave. It was as if the magical wave had appeared out of nowhere.

Furthermore, that magical wave changed very quickly. At the beginning, it was nothing but a trace of magic. Immediately after, it was amplified and changed into a surging tide of magic. It was like a huge wave, and was rushing towards Stephen at top speed!

“F*ck!” Stephen exclaimed. Being a high-ranking Archmage who had good and accurate control over the flow of mana, Stephen could sense the danger when the magical wave rushed towards him.

However, danger came too quickly. A high-ranking Archmage like Stephen could not keep up with the changes happening at the speed of light. It was faster than the speed at which mana usually flowed at. At that instant, Stephen only managed to cast a Water Shield before getting engulfed by numerous beams of light…

Lin Li witnessed everything very clearly. The beams of light were actually numerous magic arrows. Among the offensive spells, the impact of magic arrows was not the weakest, but it was one of the weaker spells. It couldn’t be helped. This was a very simple and shabby spell that did not require any elemental sequencing. One just had to let the magic out for the spell to take effect.

This was the only spell a mage apprentice could instantaneously cast. However, it was not frequently employed by them as it was really weak.

That was no exaggeration. There was a mage who did the calculations very long ago. If one were to use a magic arrow against a Four-element Shield, it would require him to cast it 100 times for cracks to appear in the shield. As for shields that were stronger than the Four-element Shield… It would be almost impossible.

However, there were millions of magic arrows that shot out. Collectively, they looked like a meteor shower. Quantitative change led to qualitative change. That overwhelming volley of magic arrows broke Stephen’s Water Shield instantaneously!

That was a fatal crisis. No Archmage could survive in such a situation. Unless he had his own Magical Domain after he reached the Legendary-realm, he would not be able to make use of the laws of magic to alter the direction of the mana within the magic arrows.

However, everything would have an exception…

Although Stephen was not in the Legendary-realm, he survived the attack of the million magic arrows miraculously…

Stephen plucked out his necklace at the instant when the magic arrows broke the Water Shield.

Lin Li could not believe how that action allowed Stephen to create several layers of Elemental Shields instantaneously. He counted seven layers of the shield, and saw that the shields stacked on top of each other, creating an impregnable magic wall. Lin Li assumed that the wall would also be able to resist a Legendary-level powerhouse for quite a while.

It was this magic wall that saved Stephen…

However, even if the Elemental Shield had seven layers, it did not have the ability to protect Stephen entirely. In fact, Stephen looked totally different when that meteor shower ended.

He looked as if he was just trampled by 100 elephants. There were big and small wounds that looked especially terrifying in critical regions. If some had hit a little more to the side, Stephen’s small life would have ended.

Stephen breathed heavily and struggled to drink a bottle of Recovery Potion. He looked more resolved after that, but the bloodstains on his face and tattered long black robe made him really wretched.

“This… What happened?” Hutton exclaimed worriedly after seeing Stephen’s miserable state.

“Geresco did not say anything when he passed the box to me. Other than wanting me to wait for you guys here to retrieve the things, I’m not aware of other matters,” Tutankhamun said as he waved his hands indifferently.

“Are you saying that you don’t know?” Stephen snapped in rage. “This box has been with you for 1300 years. How could you not know anything?”

Stephen’s rage was justified. He’d nearly died from those magic arrows that rained on him. If it were not for his quick reflexes to cast seven layers of the Elemental Shield, he would not have been able to stand there alive anymore.

“You should ask Geresco…” Tutankhamun still sounded unaffected. However, Lin Li knew that if Stephen still continued to make a fuss, he would be in trouble. Tutankhamun was a descendant of the Dragon of Destruction. Being one of the invincible black dragons of the world, how could his honor be challenged by a mere Archmage?

To be honest, Lin Li would not mind if Tutankhamun intended to punish Stephen…

But, now is not the time…

There was no time to waste now. The mana depletion would only last for a maximum of five minutes. If they were to miss the chance, there would only be another unlucky fella…

“I shall try it, then…” Lin Li said as he stood from the table.

“You?” Stephen questioned disdainfully.

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First-hand experience gave Stephen the clearest understanding of how impactful the magic force within the metal box was. That blanket of magic arrows had the ability to pierce through the Four-element Shields. Despite employing the Dark Blade’s strongest magical equipment, the Element Sigh Necklace, it could only act as a temporary defense mechanism. Only a Legendary-level individual could balance the force of the attack.

As for that President Felic… He still needs another century to do that…

“Yeah,” Lin Li replied, and did not care about Stephen’s disdainful gaze. He took his time to search his pocket.

Shortly after, Lin Li fished out a dark metal rod.

Lin Li had not used this rod that had been coated with deep mithril ever since he defeated Cromwell in the battle in Jarrosus. Magical enchantment required a huge amount of magical crystals, and Lin Li only took interest in magical enchantment at least at Master-level. He would need to use dozens of level-15 magical crystals and drain half of his energy for the enchantment. Furthermore, there was no need for Lin Li to employ any enchantment spells now. Andoine once advised him against heavy reliance on magical equipment. He was afraid that the illusion of strength would lead Lin Li astray, and he’d lose the opportunities to improve.

However, Lin Li did not intend to use mere magical enchantment this time…

The dull gold rod was not least eye-catching. It only emitted faint magical waves in Lin Li’s hands like a low-level magic scroll or some lousy magical equipment. At this time, not only Stephen, even Hutton who knew the abilities of President Felic started to become confused…

Hutton could recognize the gold rod as specialized equipment used by magical enchanters. However, he could not fathom the intention behind President Felic bringing it out. Did he think the magic arrows weren’t powerful enough? Did he want to make the magic arrows more deadly with magical enchantment?

“I still thought you would have a good idea…” Stephen commented. He could not suppress his sense of disdain for Lin Li. “I say, President Felic, are you intending to use that metal rod to open the box?”

“Hush…” Lin Li whispered, not affected by the meager insult. He did not even lift his eyelids when he turned to look at Stephen. “Mage Stephen, don’t you want to change into a new set of clothes? Or do you think it is nicer to expose your whole buttocks to the world?” Lin Li asked sincerely.

“…” Stephen’s expression changed. He touched his behind subconsciously and realized his skin had gotten exposed from the attack. Although it was only a palm-sized hole in his robe, and nothing as exaggerated as what Lin Li said, this had become his most embarrassing moment in his entire life which he had been living in utmost comfort and luxury.

As the young leader of the Dark Blade, and the top Archmage in the Breezy Plains, it was an extreme insult to be pointed out for his exposed bottom in public. Stephen’s palish face turned green, and his veins surfaced on his tightly clenched fist. If not for Tutankhamun and Hutton, he would have launched an attack.

Lin Li did not even look at Stephen. He held on to that mithril-coated gold rod and placed it on the metal box gently.

What followed was a brilliant glow of light…

The air in the wooden house became stale. It was as though Stephen, Hutton, and Tutankhamun—two humans and one black dragon—were trapped by a mysterious force. They could not help but rub their eyes.

The metal box was gone…!

“F*ck…” Hutton cussed as he held his head.

“This can’t be! This can’t be!” Stephen shrieked. It sounded as though he was being strangled. “This is an illusion. Illusion!”

Tutankhamun was the calmest among the three. After casting a quick glance at the space where the metal crate disappeared, he put his gaze on the gold rod.

Although the gold rod still had the same dullness, there was an additional foggy layer of halo around the tip of the rod. If one had not looked at it carefully, he would have thought that it was just a reflection of the light earlier on.

However, Tutankhamun was no average man. Having lived for countless years, that black dragon had in-depth knowledge about magic as compared to most mages in Anril. How could he not know that the halo was left behind by Geresco’s metal crate?

That was the essence of magic…

Only an enchanter’s gold rod could extract the purest source of mana.

However, even Tutankhamun would not have thought that a young mage would open the box with such a technique.

In fact, Geresco actually wrote down the way to open the box when he passed the metal crate to him. It was Tutankhamun who decided to use the box to test the three young mages. Stephen’s failure was within his expectations. How could a metal crate that was made from elemental metal be opened by a normal lock-picking technique?

The elemental iron was also known as a living magical metal. It had very incredible mana that grew with time. As though it had an ability to meditate, the iron could grow in strength every second. There were also elemental iron mineral veins that had been around for a thousand years that were as powerful as an Archmage.

However, that was not the most eccentric part of elemental iron. The reason that made elemental iron known as magical metal was its innate ability to cast spells. The presence of external factors could trigger the iron to cast spells independently, and the way it cast them would be determined by the way it had been forged. During the Dark Age, there were many High Elven Smithing Masters that could forge many weapons with different magical attributes just by using a piece of elemental iron.

Initially, the method that Geresco left behind was to destroy the Magic Suppression spell that was cast on the metal crate. Then, one had to solve three quizzes that required entry-level Inscription knowledge to unlock the metal box to retrieve the Book of Eternity.

Unfortunately, Geresco could not have expected somebody to use such a violent method to open the crate after 1300 years.

The use of a gold rod to directly disassociate the elemental iron was a very unreasonable technique. However, Tutankhamun had to admit that it was a very effective way.

Of course, one had to be a Master-level enchanter and own a powerful gold rod to be able to succeed. Otherwise, such a forceful method would only trigger the elemental iron and get himself submerged in raining magic arrows…

“Hold on…” Tutankhamun commented. He suddenly realized that the young man placed his gold rod during the time of depletion of the elemental iron. This meant that he would never have been harmed even if he’d failed to disassociate the elements. Hence, Stephen had merely become cannon fodder by taking lead so enthusiastically!

Damn, this fella is sly…